Malice stood with Aiya overlooking the pirate base they'd been assigned to. A few others had been dispatched to other areas of the base with the mission of taking out as much of it as they could. Malice and Aiya had been assigned to the main holding area, and hidden inside a pouch on the woman's hip was some sort of explosive. She had not asked what it was, just accepting the job to get it in and then get out herself, taking out as many pirates as she could on her way. She stretched slightly, a determined grin on her face. They wouldn't know what hit them.

The pair carefully approached a nearby entrance. Luckily their attention would be mostly on the rest of the clan, which would leave places like this entrance unguarded. After taking a quick glance down the hallway to make sure it was clear, the wildling and her Nexu made their way in, taking care to make sure that their steps would not echo down the darkness. Noticing a bit of light up ahead, they slowly approached to find their first room. Reaching out with the force, she identified two humanoids inside. A quick check confirmed this, and luckily for Malice and Aiya, their backs were turned to them. Casting a quick illusion, the two stepped freely into the room. The men were watching a monitor that seemed to show a battle going on elsewhere.

Malice was glad that there were two of them. She'd been working on a technique that required two opponents, and it seemed this was just the time to practice it. Without drawing attention, she carefully probed one of their minds, searching for their deepest fear. When it became clear a few seconds later, her eyes narrowed. It looked like some sort of hybrid creature that was a mix of a Rancor and an Acklay, neither of which were creatures you wanted to be surprised by. Taking this image, she released his mind and projected the creature onto the man's companion. The other man, who had no idea what was happening and couldn't see the illusion himself was caught off guard as the other clipped him in the shoulder with a blaster shot. He howled in pain before dropping when another hit him in the face. The illusion, however, did not end with him, continuing to torment the man until he raised the blaster to his own head, hoping that death would end the illusion. Sadly, it did, and Malice folded her arms at the sight before her.

"I'd say that worked splendidly, wouldn't you?" She said to the Nexu next to her. Aiya chirped something back and Malice sighed. "Sure, they'll be going to waste anyway after everything explodes."

Once Aiya had finished her meal, the two continued down the hallway. Most of the other pirates they encountered were on their own, so Malice did not get to try her trick again, much to her disappointment. Once they had swept the area, they approached what seemed like the main control center. Malice could sense a larger group within. Seven? Six. Six more to take out before they could plant the explosive and run. She couldn't tell if the group was armed or not, but she and Aiya had taken out larger groups than this before. She laid a hand on the Nexus head scratching affectionately behind a cluster of spines before hitting the button to raise the door. Six pairs of eyes looked in their direction, panicked expressions. A single person in the room was armed. Everyone else was simply there to run the control room and give readings to whoever came asking for them. She walked calmly towards the armed individual, a female with a very shaky firing hand. Her shots missed the pair easily, and before she could fire again, Malice was right in front of her, the knife she kept in a sheath on her leg out and against her neck. The other five people seemed frozen in place. They did not run. They did not scream. Nothing. Now where was the fun in that? Her glance flashed to Aiya, who understood immediately and began taking out people one by one. That seemed to snap them out of it, though none of them could do anything against the vicious feline.

Turning her attention back to the girl, Malice spoke.

"What is your name?"

"Asante." The girl squeaked out.

"Asante. That's a lovely name. Tell me, are you ready to die?"

Asante shook her head frantically, tears starting to form in her eyes as she noticed the strange creature the woman had brought with her come back to sit down, licking blood from its face.

"Do you have a dream, Asante? Something to live for?" Malice asked, searching the woman's face.

"Just my family. They're in a different system, I'm just here to work to support them."

Her voice was really shaking now as she realized this was her chance to beg for her life.

"Please, I won't tell anyone. Just let me go."

Malice lowered the knife, reaching into her pouch to retrieve the bomb. The girl's eyes glanced at it before finding their way back up to Malice's.

"This device will send a message to my group. it'll tell them I've already swept this area, so if you stay here, you'll be safe. They won't come to check it again, do you understand?" She asked as she attached it to the underside of a control panel nearby.

Relief flooded the girl's face as she openly began to cry.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Trust me, it's no problem." She said, turning back to where they had come from. Aiya followed closely behind. Malice hit the button again to open the door and then close it again. Once the girl was out of sight, Malice quickly climbed onto the Nexu, who began to race forward. Malice clipped the earpiece into her ear as they rushed out the exit, continuing to run until they were a good distance away. Climbing to the top of a nearby hill, Malice climbed down, standing next to Aiya. She touched a finger to the earpiece.

"All set down here."

"Excellent." Came her master's voice on the other side. A few seconds later, the two watched as the entire compound ignited, blasting high into the sky. She was rather pleased, as it had seemed her skill for deception had greatly improved after accepting Selika's teachings. Aiya was not pleased, however, as the girl would have served to be an excellent meal.

"Let's get back to finish our report." She said, climbing on the Nexu again to start off towards where Selika would be waiting.

Don't try to poison Abadeer, or he'll rip your heart out.
*Rim shot*

Malice looked up as Kalon came into the room, and she could immediately tell he was upset by something. Very, very upset about something. It had been awhile since she'd seen him this angry about anything.

"Kalon? What's wrong?" She asked as he paced in front of her for a few moments. Aiya and Mirdala both looked up and exchanged glances. They could sense something was wrong and all three of them tensed in response.

"Someone requested to meet with me. They said they had an assignment that would pay well, so I told them I'd meet them in the cantina to hear what they had in mind." He started, his hands balled into fists as he began to take deeper breaths in an attempt to calm himself. Malice didn't think anything sounded out of place so far but stayed silent to let him continue his story.

"You were their target."

Ah. There was the problem.

"Me? I don't believe I've done anything recently to put me on someone's radar like that. Did they say why?" She asked, searching her memories for something she could have done to warrant an assassination. Aiya growled slightly under her breath, and Malice shushed her.

"He's not going to follow through, Aiya. He wouldn't," she said, glancing to the Nexu before back up to the Mandalorian. "Right?"

"Of course not. I couldn't. I would never kill you." He said, finally beginning to calm down. He sat beside her, wrapping his arms around her to pull her close.

"Nothing is going to happen to me, and if anyone tries anything, they'll have a very fun fight on their hands." She assured him. "In fact, I think it would be fun to find this guy again. See if we can get some answers out of him. What do you think?"

She could tell immediately that Kalon liked the idea. Their relationship hadn't been a secret, but it wasn't something they'd gone around announcing, either. It didn't surprise her that whoever it was that wanted her dead hadn't known who he was talking to when he'd called for Kalon. Though the two hadn't been sure of each other when Malice had first arrived to live with the clan, they were very fond of each other now. They'd met in the place that most met Kalon, drinking in the cantina, and after a few near death experiences and sparring matches, they'd simply grown closer, much to Malice's confusion. She hadn't been familiar with such feelings, and they'd caught her off guard. It was a feeling she didn't appreciate but after getting used to them, she was alright now.

"Come on. Let's go see if we can track whoever it was down." She said, nudging him with her shoulder. The two stood and walked out the door together, heading for the cantina again.

Once in the cantina, they both looked around, Kalon reaching out with the force to probe around for the man.

"There." He said, nodding to a figure who currently had his back to them. Malice walked over immediately, Kalon following closely behind. She took a seat without speaking across from the man, who looked up with a startled look on his face when he recognized her.

"Hi there. I caught word that you're looking to get me killed. Care to tell me why?" She said casually. The man laughed in response.

"And why would I tell you anything?" He said, smirking. Malice exchanged a glance with Kalon, who was standing just behind the man, his arms folded and looking very intimidating.

"Tell me, have you ever had your neck snapped? I've heard it's not very pleasant, but I'm very curious to see it happen to someone else."

"And who's going to snap my neck? You?"

"No, actually. I wish. See, I have someone who's just aching to volunteer, and after the day he's had today, I'd start talking pretty quickly."

The man seemed to think she was bluffing, until Kalon stepped forward, gripping the back of the man's head and slamming it forward into the table. An audible crack was heard as the man's nose broke, blood beginning to seep out of it. A few people looked in their direction, but most paid them no mind. It was not an unfamiliar sight to see the two of them getting into and out of trouble.

The man looked up, pinching his nose in an attempt to get the blood to stop. When he saw just who it was that had broken his nose, he seemed to take Malice more seriously.

"Listen, it's not me that wants you dead, nor is it specifically you that they're aiming towards. My employer is looking to get at your master, not you." He finally said, wincing every so often from the face pain he was no doubt experiencing.

"Selika? I'm sorry to tell you, but killing me won't affect her in any way, other than getting rid of someone that runs errands for her. She's not that kind of person." Malice said, laughing. Whoever it was that was behind all this certainly seemed to not know Selika very well at all. "Now why don't you tell us who it is behind all of this, hmm? I'd hate for you to break anything else today."

"I don't know who they are, honest. Just that they're in Clan Odan Urr." The man stammered. Malice exchanged another glance with Kalon. Their clan had just finished a war with the Jedi of Odan Urr, winning and taking slaves triumphantly. Perhaps someone had unfinished business with Selika and was determined to complete it, even if they had lost.

"He seems to be telling the truth." She spoke silently to the mandalorian's mind. "What do we do with him?"

"This."

Kalon reached forward again, placing his hands on either sides of the man's head. A quick snap to the side and it was over in the blink of an eye.

"Hmm. Not as interesting as I thought it would be." She said, sighing. Their search would have to be put on hold for now, but at least they had a good idea where to start looking.